Richard Sherman is a free agent for the first time in his career after the Seattle Seahawks released him on Friday.

So what's next?

Under normal circumstances, a cornerback as accomplished as Sherman -- with four Pro Bowls and three first-team All-Pro selections over seven seasons -- wouldn't have to wait long to find his next home. He'd have his pick from among several immediate suitors.

But Sherman's situation will be affected by a few factors that could make his market slow to develop.

First and foremost, he's coming off a serious injury -- a ruptured Achilles that ended his 2017 season in November. Sherman, who turns 30 on March 30, had reconstructive surgery on his right Achilles shortly after suffering the injury and also had a recent and comparatively minor procedure to clean up the same part of his left foot. He estimated last month that he'd be running again sometime around mid-April or early May and said he'd be ready to participate in minicamp in mid-June.

That timeline would have him back well before the start of the 2018 season, but the fact remains that there are no guarantees with injuries as serious as his. Teams might opt to wait to see how he has progressing as opposed to signing him now and taking a leap of faith that his recovery will go as planned.

Sherman is also hitting a free-agent market that will be flush with cornerbacks. Among the available names: Trumaine Johnson, Malcolm Butler, Patrick Robinson, Bashaud Breeland, Aaron Colvin, Rashaan Melvin, Morris Claiborne, E.J. Gaines, Brent Grimes and Prince Amukamara. There's also Kyle Fuller, who the Chicago Bears used a transition tag on this week.

All of those cornerbacks cracked the top 50 of a recent list of the 100 best 2018 free agents put together by ESPN's Kevin Seifert.

It's also considered a deep cornerback class for April's NFL draft. Todd McShay's latest mock draft for ESPN had five cornerbacks and versatile defensive back Minkah Fitzpatrick going in the first round; Mel Kiper Jr.'s mock draft had four cornerbacks and Fitzpatrick.

It's a good year for teams in need of new cornerbacks, but not so much for cornerbacks -- even healthy ones -- in need of new teams.

And then there's the fact Sherman is representing himself, having ditched his agent at least a year ago. Exactly how much that figures to affect his situation is anyone's guess. He'll have people advising him, so he won't be going at it completely alone. But it stands to reason that the process of finding a new team and all that entails would at least be a little simpler with a full-time agent handling things.

Sherman will eventually find that new team. ESPN's Field Yates lists the San Francisco 49ers, Dallas Cowboys, Atlanta Falcons and the New England Patriots as potential suitors. A reunion with the Seahawks shouldn't be completely ruled out, either. He certainly sounds open to a return to Seattle.

But that might not happen until the first wave of free agency passes, if not well after that.